The Long Journey Home
by RedRosesandMarigolds
Summary: After the war's end, Team Avatar want to relax and unwind as they drift home. A nice, long trip on Appa, slowly dropping everybody off, seems to be prescribed. But 100-year wars do not suddenly end with no complications, and nor does a super-team who've saved the world together split up without a backward glance. It seems their trip home won't be as relaxing as they first thought.
1. The Jasmine Dragon

**OK. This is my first story for this fandom. I want it to really conjure up what I love about Avatar. I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to tell me what you think, and anything that really gets on your nerves. And, lastly, since I'm not a millionairess, I'm going to assume that I don't own Avatar.**

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The ragtag collection of teenagers that Sokka had so cheerfully dubbed "Team Avatar" were spending the afternoon at the Jasmine Dragon, relaxing and enjoying each others' company. Nearly a month had passed since the end of the Hundred Year War, but all of them still felt that they still needed some time to sit around, breathe deeply, and allow the wounds, both physical and emotional, to heal. Sokka was polishing the sword that had been retrieved after the battle and enjoying showing it off to Suki, who did indeed think that a sword made from a meteorite was almost as good as a fan. Appa was outside, eating his way through bundle after bundle of hay, and Ty Lee was stroking his soft, shaggy fur. Ever since she first saw him, she had been fascinated with the bison, for even Mai would admit that he was a magnificent creature, made even more so by his rarity. Iroh was brewing copious amounts of lychee tea, and the sweet smell wafted giddily through the building. Zuko was sitting by Mai on the side of the golden dragon fountain that Iroh had had installed only a week ago, exclaiming with all his usual gusto that it would make a great centrepiece (despite Zuko's concerns that there may not be enough tables thanks to that addition), holding her hand and talking about many things, but carefully avoiding the topics of Zuko's new duties as Fire Lord, the War, their recent break-up, and tea. Toph was playing with Momo, and keeping a watchful eye - well, a watchful foot, really - on Zuko and Mai, bending the side of the fountain so that they slid apart if it looked as though they were heading for a kiss. Katara and Aang were sitting by one wall, leaning their backs against one another and trying not to look as though they enjoyed the contact too much. Despite the fact that they had been together for nearly a month, and the fact that the two had by that time got used to the notion of being in a relationship, they had not yet plucked up the courage to tell their friends of this, and so were keeping it secret as best they could. Katara leaned her head back against that of her sweetheart and rubbed it, her soft hair tickling the skin on his scalp. Aang closed his eyes and snuggled further into her, trying not to let his enjoyment of the sensation show too much, lest someone (and, in his head, that someone took the form of Sokka) notice the casual intimacy of their position, and make the appropriate deductions. Katara inhaled deeply, bathing in the smell of the tea in her hands, and Aang felt a twinge of regret that he could not see the look on her face.

At length, Sokka concluded his conversation with Suki and got up, stretching out his aching arms before he sat back down again and addressed the room at large. "You know, Hawky brought me back a letter from Gran Gran this morning. She was asking when we'd be coming home."

Katara had just judged her tea to be cool enough and taken a large sip. Now, she spat half of it out and knocked Aang's head.

"Oww!"

"Home? I...I hadn't thought about it." Her face clouded. "I hope they're getting on all right without us." She shook her head, rose, and left. Aang made to follow, but then decided that it might look too obvious, so he sat down and began, almost without realising, to count a minute in his head.

Suki frowned. "We should all be getting home, really. The Island of Kyoshi is unlikely to encounter threat now that the War is over, but the girls will be needing me. I'd be a pretty awful leader if I left them alone for much longer - TY LEE!"

The door flew open, and Ty Lee cartwheeled into the room. "Yes?" she beamed.

"We're going back to Kyoshi Island. Get ready to leave."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Ty Lee grinned again and walked out on her hands.

Toph sat up abruptly, cradling Momo in her arms. She was curled up tightly into a ball. "I suppose you're all looking forward to going home." she said quietly. "You'll all get lovely warm welcomes and Sokka and Katara will get told how great they did and how proud their dad is of them. I don't know what I'll get - not that. When Mum and Dad found out I was the Blind Bandit, they said that I would be guarded twenty-four seven. That was the last straw - the reason I ran away."

Suki squatted down beside her and pulled her into a hug. "Toph, you helped end a war by taking out - what was it? - fifteen, twenty airships simultaneously by driving another one into them - which, I'll say, could have caught fire and burned both you and Sokka to death. If that doesn't change what they think of you, nothing will."

"That's exactly what I'm scared about." replied Toph glumly. "They'll put their own spin on it somehow."

Suki squeezed her shoulders, then released her. Toph sighed.

"I suppose we'll have to say goodbye to you all." sighed Mai. "We'll have to stay here."

"It's been great knowing you." Zuko told them. "You've really transformed my life - for the better."

"I hadn't thought about that!" cried Sokka. "Team Avatar is going to have to split up - forever!" He screwed up his hands into fists and clutched at his head."

"Calm down, Sokka!" Toph shrieked at him. "You're not helping anyone!"

"You'll have to drop in to Kyoshi Island some time." smiled Suki. "We'll make you very welcome." She smiled at him, and Sokka smiled back.

Aang, unnoticed, got up and went out onto the balcony. Katara was out there, and she was looking remarkably glum, from what he could see from her back. The two had a certain fondness for the balcony, and they both privately thought of it as their Kissing Balcony. He went up to her, and put an arm round her waist. She jumped.

"Aang! You startled me!"

"I could tell." he smiled. He put the other arm round her, and she returned the hug.

"I feel guilty." she said length. "I feel guilty that we left at all, and now I feel guilty that I didn't even think of coming back."

"We've had so much to think about." Aang said quietly. "Everything's changed."

"I know." smiled Katara into the sunset. "I've never known peacetime." She blushed suddenly. "And I've never had a boyfriend before." She pulled him into another hug, and kissed him happily. Aang returned the kiss, and Katara's arms slid around his neck in the position that both had grown comfortably familiar with. All too soon, Katara ended the kiss, and pulled away.

"We ought to be getting back inside. Leave it to Sokka to come out for some fresh air - or I bet Toph can feel how close together we are."

They went back inside, careful not to walk too closely together, and went and sat down at opposite ends of the room.

"Are we still talking about home?" asked Aang.

"Yup." Sokka confirmed. "We still have a lot of stuff to sort out - I'm going to do another schedule!"

"So you can pin us to it and yell at us for being behind?" asked Katara with a laugh.

Sokka shrugged. "Pretty much."

"I don't really have a home to go to." sighed Aang. "But I suppose I'll find somewhere once you're all back with your families."

"Come back to the South Pole with us!" cried Katara. The undisguised eagerness in her voice made everybody stare. "What? It's where his journey started."

"So, now we all know where we're going," Toph observed sadly, "I guess the only thing left to do is to...go home."


	2. An Unexpected Appearance

Mai found a couple of days later that her boyfriend had gone missing. After performing a quick search of the Jasmine Dragon and its accompanying garden, she discovered him sitting on a rock staring despondently at the garden wall.

"Nice view." she said wryly, coming up behind him.

"Ha ha." replied Zuko flatly. He moved over slightly so that she could sit down next to him, which she did.

"What's bothering you?" she asked with genuine concern.

"It's being the Fire Lord." replied Zuko sadly. "I'm sixteen, Mai - I'm not up to it."

Mai shook her head. There was no knowing how to deal with Zuko when he got like that. The only thing she really felt she knew how to do was out-mope him. She pondered her reply for several minutes before deciding to go for Katara.

"Why don't you feel like you're up to it?" she asked gently. "Maybe I can help you." She really wanted to be able to help him, she realised, for she loved him dearly. She put an arm around his shoulders and squeezed tightly for a moment.

"Mai, I'm just so young." he said miserably. "I've been the family disgrace since I was thirteen, with a brief interlude when I was still trying to sort myself out, and all of a sudden, I've got no family to be a disgrace to, apart from Uncle, and I'm also Fire Lord, ruler of the second biggest nation in the world. Just to make me feel better. I know it's my destiny, but it doesn't make it any easier." Zuko realised what he had been working towards. "I don't know what I'm doing, Mai, and everyone expects me to - even my advisers aren't up to much, they keep forgetting that I'm really new to this."

"That's...bad." Mai replied. She swiftly came to the conclusion that no-one could be Katara except Katara, and decided to just stumble in the dark and hope that what she said comforted him.

"I hate it!" Zuko snapped suddenly. "I hate being Fire Lord, and I hate having to undo the damage that my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father did! I can't pick up everyone's pieces, and I can't rebuild every house that our men mindlessly destroyed. I can't re-home all the refugees either - so why does everyone expect me to?"

"Zuko." Mai put a hand on his shoulder. "Zuko..." She suddenly realised that she had absolutely no idea what she was going to say to him. She decided to go for the obvious. "Zuko, whatever happens, I love you, and I'll stick by you however many mistakes you make. My mum told me that Dad started so many arguments at the beginning of his political career." This was a blatant lie, but hopefully it would make Zuko feel better. "Everyone makes mistakes - and Dad isn't as good with people as you."

"Thanks, Mai." Zuko met her eye, and he was smiling. "That helped."

"That's great!" Mai half-gasped. "I was just making that up as I went along - I had no idea what I was saying."

"I could tell." replied Zuko. "What you were saying didn't really help at all - but I liked that you were trying." He pulled Mai closer to him and kissed her, mouths slightly open, both enjoying the familiar feeling of intimacy and comfort with each other. When they broke apart, Zuko had a new resolve in his eyes.

"I'm going with the others." he said.

"What?"

"To the South Pole." Zuko said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm going to be with people who accept me, and care about me - Zuko, not the Fire Lord."

"You're not dumping me again, are you?" Mai narrowed her eyes, already slit-like, at him, suspicion written all over her pretty face.

"Mai, just because we aren't in the same place doesn't mean we're not together!" Zuko suddenly flashed. "For the sake of the spirit world, I don't believe you sometimes!"

Mai scowled. "I might well dump you if you carry on like that." she snapped, turning round on the rock so that she had her back to him.

"Fine." he snapped back. "But I'm going, whether I have to say goodbye temporarily or permanently. You don't rule my life."

"I never said I did!" shot back Mai. Then, she softened. "I'm coming with you, Zuko."

"Really?" Zuko was incredulous. "Mai, that's wonderful!"

She gave him a sideways smile. "Well, I couldn't let you meet some pretty Earth Kingdom girl, now, could I?"

"During my exile," Zuko told her, leaning in close so that his hot breath warmed her neck, "I travelled the world. I never met a girl as beautiful as you." He leaned in close to her and kissed her, long and slow and sweet. They broke apart, and Mai looked at him from under her lowered eyelashes. She placed a hand on the back of his head, gently clutching at his soft hair, and kissed him again. One of Zuko's hands went to her thigh, and she slapped it. They may have kissed several more times, were it not for a sudden rustling in the bushes.

"Who's there?" demanded Zuko, clutching Mai close to him. "I, Fire Lord Zuko, command you to show yourself!"

There was another rustle, and a girl stumbled raggedly out into the open. She was wearing a dark red kimono embroidered with golden dragons loping gracefully over the skirt and yellow belt and slippers entirely unsuitable for the great outdoors, and her dark brown hair was loose and shaggy, tumbling riotously down her back and over her shoulders. Her face was covered in scratches and cuts, and it had plainly been pretty before it was so despoiled. As soon as they saw her, May and Zuko's jaws dropped.

"Azula!" cried Zuko. "What are you doing here?"

"Mai!" screamed the younger girl, diving at her friend as though her life depended on it. "Mai, he's going to kill me! Kill him first! Please!"

"Azula, calm down." Mai said with surprising gentleness. "Who's going to kill you?"

"Him!" she screamed, pointing at her brother. "Zuko! For what I did! He'll kill me - his own sister!"

"Azula!" Zuko was shocked. "Azula, I'm not going to kill you. You're my sister. You're fourteen - a child. I'm not going to kill you." Something about her made him deeply sad. His sister had been so confident, so happy, never doubting herself for a moment, always exuding that power so inappropriate in a girl her age, reduced to this crazy, screaming wreck who clung to Mai and threatened to pull her down on top of her. He felt, somehow, as though it were his fault.

"Don't speak to me!" she cried angrily. "Don't you dare come near me!"

There was the sound of running footsteps and Katara, Aang, Sokka, Toph, Suki, and Ty Lee came out into the garden. They all stopped short as they saw exactly who had joined their two friends.

"Azula!" cried Ty Lee excitedly, running to embrace her childhood friend. Azula broke away from Mai, much to the latter's relief, and instead put her arms around Ty Lee.

"Azula?" gasped Katara incredulously, putting both hands to her mouth. She too found the sight of the once-great Fire Princess very harrowing. Azula glared at her, a snort of fire coming from each nostril, along with a strange sound that put Katara in mind of a leopard-bull.

"Ty Lee, don't hug her like that!" snapped Zuko. "She's convinced I'm going to kill her."

"Aww - that's so sad!" sniffed Ty Lee, tightening her grip on her.

"He might kill her if she gets too crazy." Toph grinned.

"Toph, that wasn't funny." Katara said in a shocked tone.

"Yes - Katara's right, we're dealing with a sensitive subject." added Suki. "How would you feel if your sister thought that you were going to kill her?"

"I don't have a sister." Toph replied blandly. "If your going to tell me off like a mum, you could at least get your facts right."

"I really hate you sometimes." snapped Suki in response.

Zuko growled angrily, and while they all argued about Azula's fate, he slipped inside to find his uncle, who was doing the only thing he ever seemed to do these days: brewing tea. Zuko marched right up to him, and Iroh turned, an expression of deep peace cut into his wrinkled features.

"Would you like some tea, Zuko?" he asked. "Jin Seng tea truly does have a flavour unlike any other."

"I'm not interested in your stupid tea!" snapped Zuko. "Azula turned up in the garden and she thinks I'm going to kill her!"

Iroh shook his head as he poured himself out a cup. "I told her to stay in her room. I thought she would cause the least trouble that way."

"You knew?"

Iroh took a sip of his tea. "Much too hot. Yes - I invited her here. The asylum was not doing her any good, and this must be the most peaceful building in Ba Sing Se, if not the world." He smiled to himself, his reflection in his tea smiling back, twinkly-eyed.

"You...did...what?" spluttered Zuko, unable to comprehend that he had so managed to miss such an important factor of life in the Jasmine Dragon.

"I know - I was surprised by the simple brilliance too." Iroh smiled complacently, pouring himself a second cup. "Azula can recover and our family can be happy together. Everyone is happy."

"YOU - DID - WHAT ?!" bellowed Zuko, and a great tongue of flame shot from his open mouth and up towards the high ceiling.

"Azula is so lucky to have a brother who cares for her so much." beamed Iroh.


	3. Travelling Companions

Katara jumped down from Appa's saddle after loading on the last of their belongings to find Zuko and Mai dashing up to her.

"Hey guys!" she beamed. "If you've come to say goodbye, we're not setting off until after breakfast."

"Actually, we've come to say that we're coming with you." Zuko scratched the back of his head nervously.

"What? But what about your duties as Fire Lord?" demanded Katara.

"Fire Lords take holidays." snapped Zuko. "And my advisers know what they're doing - more than I do. They'll keep this place afloat. Then, when you're all back, we'll come home and get back to being the Fire Lord. There. Happy?" Zuko folded his arms and glared at the younger girl.

Katara narrowed her eyes. "No."

"Katara, don't try to talk me out of this. It's a decision I've made and I'm not going to change my mind."

Katara, deciding that this was probably true, rounded on Mai. "What's your part in this? I thought you were more sensible, Mai!"

"Zuko's right." Mai said blandly. "His advisers have everything under control, and it is his decision. I'm going with him."

Katara scowled.

"Seriously, Katara!" Zuko decided to go for her weak point. "We're your friends. I thought you'd want us with you!"

"Oh, fine, then!" snapped Katara. "But the others have to agree to it as well."

"Agree to what?" asked Toph, strolling up to them with all her usual nonchalance.

"Agree to Zuko and Mai abandoning the Fire Nation to come with us." Katara told her.

"Oh, sweet, Zuko's coming too!" Toph punched the air happily.

"OK, one down, four to go." grinned Zuko. Katara scowled again.

"So, is Appa good to go?" Sokka strolled up casually, one arm around Suki's waist.

"Zuko seems to think that he and Mai are coming too." Katara told them. "Come on - you're sensible, Suki, you can't let them do this - they're needed here!"

"You're right-" began Suki, but Sokka cut her off.

"Hey, buddy, good to have you on board! And you gotta take Mai, too - all teenagers need something to eat every evening!"

"Sokka!" Katara was deeply shocked.

"Just sayin'." her brother replied, spreading his hands. Suki dug him in the ribs.

"Hey - you don't do me every night!" She giggled, and Sokka grinned along with her.

"OK - I'm sure we could make time for a second date." Suki looked immensely pleased by this prospect.

"Ugh!" Katara growled in frustration and stormed back inside to help Iroh with the breakfast, deciding then and there what direction her relationship with Aang would NOT be taking.

"Hey, Katara!" Katara smiled as she found herself greeted by the subject of her thoughts. Aang was carrying a tray laden with bowls of jook and his face was the picture of sweet, youthful innocence. He saw her expression and set the tray down on the nearest table before he came over to embrace his sweetheart. Katara put her arms around him and hugged back, wondering why it was that hugs with Aang always felt so good. He was rubbing his head up and down her arm and his expression was so adorable that she thought her heart might break with it, so she put her head down and closed her eyes.

The entrance of Sokka forced them apart. He didn't think much of it - how many times had he seen Katara hug Aang? - and so it was with breezy nonchalance that he asked of his sister:

"Hey, Katara - have you told Aang who our new travelling companions are?"

"Urgh!" went Katara again. Aang looked sidelong at her with a curious expression.

"Who?" he asked Sokka, since Katara seemed unforthcoming.

"Zuko and Mai!" cried Sokka, holding his hands out excitedly as though presenting them.

"Isn't Zuko needed in the Fire Nation?" asked Aang, frowning for a moment.

"Exactly!" cried Katara, throwing her hands up exasperatedly. "Finally, someone else has thought about the sensible things!"

"Whoa, Katara!" Sokka held his hands out defensively. He turned to Aang. "She's gone a little crazy."

Katara narrowed her eyes at him, and it was lucky that Iroh came out of the kitchen at that point to announce that he had finished making breakfast.

In the end, it was decided that Zuko and Mai could go with them. After a very tense breakfast, the eight teenagers piled into Appa's saddle and prepared to depart. Iroh came out into the courtyard to bid them goodbye.

"Goodbye, my young friends. You must come again - if you want some fine tea or a place to stay just knock on the door - I will answer to any of you."

"Goodbye, Uncle Iroh." Zuko came and shook his hand. "Thanks for everything."

"Goodbye, Iroh!" Katara waved from the saddle. "Thanks for all the tea!"

"It was my pleasure." the old man replied graciously.

"Appa, yip yip!" cried Aang, shaking the reins. Appa growled, and thumped his tail, and then they were soaring high, away from the Jasmine Dragon, away from Ba Sing Se, and they were homeward bound.

"I'm going to miss that old guy." Toph said sadly. "You lot'll all be able to visit him - especially you, Zuko - but I'll have to stay at home and be a good little girl."

"They might have changed." Aang reassured her. "You did take out a whole fleet of airships and invent metalbending."

"I don't know. Finding out that I fought in Earth Rumble made them think that I needed more supervision."

"I don't know, Toph." Suki sighed. "Give them a chance."

"Where are your parents?" asked Toph of her.

Suki shook her head. "They got ill and died when I was a baby. I was brought up by the last set of Kyoshi Warriors - I still visit them sometimes."

"Sorry." said Toph quietly.

They flew all day, and, as the Sun set, they landed on a stretch of soft grass surrounded by mountains. It gave off a kind of peace and the group felt that this would be a pleasant place to spend the night.

"Someone get a fire going, and I'll get some supplies to make dinner." Katara called over her shoulder as the others scrambled to put up tents, already suiting the action to the word. They had had no lunch, and so all were extremely hungry.

"I'll do it!" grinned Aang eagerly, and rocketed off before anyone could beat him to it.

There was a small thicket nearby, where Aang gathered several large sticks and little twigs. He explored happily, climbing over branches and through bushes, encumbered more and more by his increasing pile of firewood. Like the rest of the area, it instilled a deep sense of peace in him, and he wondered whether it would be plausible to slip away in the morning to meditate. He enjoyed rolling around and getting dusty like a little boy for a little while longer, getting up what Toph would call "a healthy coating of earth", before he decided to head back. He began to pick his way through the leaves and branches before he heard Katara scream.

He dropped his kindling and ran, passing the others, on the same quest. The seven of them found Katara standing beside the pile of their baggage, her hands to her mouth. And it was obvious what had startled her.

Curled up amongst the supplies, sleeping like a baby, was Azula.


	4. First Night Away

There was a very nasty silence.

"What shall we do?" asked Toph.

"Let's not wake her now." whispered Suki. "Let her wake naturally and see if she's talking to us."

"She's gone crazy." pointed out Sokka. "She's not talking to anyone."

"Well, either way, let's give her an easy time of it." Katara chimed in.

"Yeah, 'cause she always gave us an easy time." cut back Sokka. "Real easy."

Katara turned her face away sadly.

"She's my sister." Zuko said, as though he had only just stopped to consider it. "I'll look after her."

"I'll help you." Mai rested a hand on his shoulder, which, after a pause, was replaced by her head.

"Thanks, Mai." smiled Zuko, putting an arm round her.

"I'll help, too!" grinned Ty Lee.

"Great." was Zuko's terse reply.

They all stood and watched, Katara peeping through her fingers, jumping every time the young princess turned over, until, eventually, Azula sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around, her brow furrowing in anger.

"You kidnapped me!" she shrieked. "Take me home!"

"Sorry, Azula." Sokka told her. "You're a stowaway."

Azula screamed at him. "You're lying! Take me home!"

"No!" snapped Zuko. "We're not taking you anywhere we weren't already going!"

"I'm going to make some dinner." Katara said. "I'm sure Azula will feel a lot better when she's had something to eat." There was that trace of melancholy in her eyes again, and Aang looked at her curiously. He felt his heart sink a little.

"I dropped the firewood when I heard you yell." he said to his sweetheart. "I'll go and get it now."

"Thanks, Aang." There was something needy in Katara's smile, a hint of surrender and of sadness turned inward. He felt it stab right into his gut and he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her, tell her that everything was all right, but everyone was watching and he couldn't. He turned away and went to retrieve his sticks.

An hour later, everyone was sitting around the campfire on which Katara had cooked, eating and keeping a watchful eye on Azula to check that she was keeping far enough away from the fire. Her table manners were worse than Toph's - she shunned her chopsticks, instead grabbing large handfuls of meat and rice, sometimes even bringing her mouth down to her bowl and eating as though she were a dog. Nobody wanted to look at her, and they felt guilty for this, which meant that there was no conversation. Katara was sitting with her hands on her knees and her head down. Her bowl was almost full. Azula took it, seizing it and thrusting her face into it. She was like an undomesticated animal, crawling around and hissing and screaming. Suki prised Katara's dinner from Azula, but Katara shook her head. She had not moved since they had begun eating.

"Come on, Katara." the older girl wheedled. "You've got to have something!"

"Yeah - what would Gran Gran say?" asked Sokka, trying to sound severe but ruining the effect by the following snort of derision.

"Oh, just go and put on your Wang Fire beard again." Katara snapped. She rose, abandoning her dinner to Azula. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight, everybody."

"Goodnight." murmured everybody else. Aang stood up, considered a minute, and sat back down again. The silence resumed. Azula's presence seemed to emanate awkwardness. After a while, Azula went to sleep and everyone made to follow. Toph bent a small earth tent around the princess, then made one for herself and went in.

Aang tried to sleep in his tent, but he couldn't stop thinking about Katara's strange behaviour. It worried and saddened him, and it stressed him also. He wondered what it was. Azula's reappearance, probably, because it had done away with her sense of victory, and of security. Happy that he had reached this conclusion, Aang turned over and closed his eyes. Then, he opened them again and sat up. What if he was wrong? He hated to assume - he truly, truly loathed it when people tried to think that they knew what was going on in his mind but had, in fact, missed the point entirely. He put his trousers on and went to see if Katara wanted to talk.

Katara did not look up as he entered her tent. She was shaking all over and Aang realised, his heart jolting forwards in the way it did when Appa stopped or swerved suddenly, that she was crying violently.

"Katara?"

She turned around and sat up, pulling a blanket from inside her sleeping bag up to cover her chest. "Aang!"

Aang smiled awkwardly. "Are you OK?"

She scowled and turned away. "No, as a matter of fact, I am not."

Aang came properly into the tent and sat at the foot of her sleeping bag. "D'you want to talk about it?"

Katara sighed and drew her knees up to her chest, crossing her arms over them. "I just feel guilty." she said at length.

"What for?" Aang was surprised at this, but he tried not to show it.

"Azula." Katara gathered her thoughts together. "I chained her down, Aang. She was laughing like a maniac and so I froze us both in ice and chained her to a grille. That was when she lost it completely. She's no older than me, and I just...just... She was so great, so confident, and now look at her. I did that, Aang. I did."

"Katara..." Aang searched about for something to say. "It was a war. Azula would have burned everything if you hadn't stopped her."

"Still...she is a person, Aang...a person."

"It wasn't just you, Katara. Being chained down doesn't send people mad - there must have been other things too." Katara didn't look too comforted, so Aang tried again. "We can rebuild her, Katara. She won't have to die like this. We can help her, and you've started off exactly the right way - by being nice to her."

Katara looked much cheered by this prospect. "Come here, Aang."

Aang came towards her and returned her warm embrace. When she kissed him, he kissed back, and pulled her ever-closer. When it was over, he took his trousers off and clambered into her sleeping bag next to her, stretching it tight so that they were forced close together. She was in only her underclothes, something which he had seen many times before but only once felt, and Aang felt a heady rush as he put his arms round her. He was used to the coarse fabric of her tunic, and so this was beautiful in comparison, surreally not happening. Her skin was so soft... He kissed a spot on her shoulder, then the join between shoulder and neck, the way they were lying rendering him unable to reach her mouth, before he snuggled against her and drifted off into sleep, one of her hands behind his head and the other arm around his shoulders, his cheek cushioned discreetly against her tender breast.

Aang was jolted into wakefulness the next morning by a loud bang. Lifting his head groggily, he took in his surroundings. He was in Katara's tent...not just her tent, in her sleeping bag, and her arms and - wait, no! - yes! - and her legs were wrapped around him. He felt a jolt go through him, right to the centre of him, and he shuddered. Then, he tried to work out what had woken him. Oh, yes - the bang. There was another one then.

He managed to avoid all his friends knowing where he had slept the previous night by dint of being the first one out of the tent. Katara was not far behind him, although she had more to put on, and the two dashed over to Azula's earth tent, whence the bangs were coming, as all their friends began to emerge. Aang stamped his foot and at once the tent retreated back into the ground. Azula stood up, shaking all over and covered in dirt. Her eyes were unfocused and she staggered about, her balance skewed by her condition.

"Do...you...have...any idea..." she breathed raggedly, a scream concealed behind her breath as though it were a flimsy sitting-room door, "how...dark it was...in...there...how...damp...it was...in there...how...SCARED...I...was...in...there?! Do you? DO YOU?!"

"Shhh, Azula." Suki placated her. "From now on, you can share with me."

Sokka looked extremely disappointed.

Katara shook her head. "It's my fault you're like this, Azula." she said sadly. "I'll help undo the damage I caused. You can share with me."

Suki gave her a strange look. "I think, if Katara's willing to take you, that it would be more convenient for both of us to alternate nights. Tonight, you can share my tent, but tomorrow, you can share with Katara. That'll make all five of us happy."

"Five?" Sokka voiced everyone's thoughts.

Suki sighed and shook her head, an amused smile playing about her lips. She said nothing. Azula gazed at her as though hypnotised, panting, her mouth open slightly, and, eventually, she nodded. "Happy..."

Zuko sighed. Katara may think that she was responsible, but she had no idea... Azula was his sister...his _sister_... He was the one who had, through lack of ability to see through her flaws and love the cold, sadistic, war machine his parents had produced, built her up not as a strong, towering pillar, but as a skittle, simply waiting for someone to roll the ball and knock her down. It was his fault that she had been tipped over the edge into insanity, completely unable to do anything for herself. Obviously, it was better for her to share a tent with Suki or Katara, due to their gender, but he was her brother, and he needed to do the most. The trouble was, though...what could he do? He was no stranger to the feeling of powerlessness, but never before had it attacked him so strongly.


	5. A Rift, a Risk, and a Routine

They planned to leave after lunch. Suki went off into the bushes with Toph under her wing to gather together large stocks of berries and nuts for the less fruitful seasons that lay ahead, Sokka went to gather together some firewood to dry out (and he also hoped to find some small animals to hunt), Ty Lee went to where Appa was resting to pick the mud out of his toes and (Ty Lee being Ty Lee) comb his fur with her fingers, Katara, Zuko, and Aang collected industrious amounts of bending and drinking water from the stream, and Mai had gone a small way away to scout for the nearest market to find some vegetables, rice, and medicine; also, at a special hissed request from her sweetheart, something that might help madness. The mistake they made in all this intricate planning was leaving Azula alone.

Azula did not like being left alone. It reminded her painfully of her family's abandonment of her, one by one, and of Mai and Ty Lee's betrayal, and it made her feel jittery and skittish and angry and furious and livid and dazed and lost and confused and... She could feel the fire flowing through her veins, feel it pooling at her fingertips; normally, she would have been able to stop it there and hold it while she calmed down, but now, she had nothing, nothing at all: the flames were out of her control. She curled her fists into the grass, arched her back and tensed every muscle, alive and twitching with the extent of the raw energy which she held within herself. Unable to do anything else, she let it go.

Everyone heard the scream. Everyone came running, from each of the four corners of their encampment, to find a few pieces of charred canvas and a campfire that threatened to set the whole forest alight. And in the middle of it all was Azula, lying on her back with her arms outstretched and a vaguely complacent smile about her lips.

Aang and Katara set themselves at once to waterbending Azula's fire out, while Suki dragged her upright, and Ty Lee pulled her cautiously into a friendly hug. Azula did not react to any of this, merely lay, limp and ragged as a doll, and allowed herself to be pulled about. Zuko stood over her, shaking his head, wondering what to do, and thinking that Mai had better hurry with the madness cure - if, of course, she had one.

It was only then that Azula began to laugh, her giggles tinted strongly with her wild mental state, sounding satisfied as well as evil, shaking in Ty Lee's grip, which tightened considerably. Her laughs grew louder and louder, until she decided that laughing wasn't getting out what she was feeling any more, and so she decided to try screaming. Why had everybody left her? Why had she, twisted and forced into believing her own lies, ended up with nothing when Zuzu, weak, powerless Zuzu, was Fire Lord and had it all? Why was it that fear had lost its grip on Mai and Ty Lee and _love_ , silly, inane _love_ had won the day? She screamed again, feeling pure hatred towards everything and everyone, towards the arms that held her, the voice that tried to soothe her, the hustle and bustle of the two children waterbending, the circle of concerned faces around them. She could feel the hatred manifesting itself into fire, and she clenched her fists, preparing to blast all those kind, caring faces into oblivion, but then the fire was out, and Aang and Katara had joined them, the latter with a large leather canteen slung over her back, and the cork in the top had been taken out, and before she knew it, a long stream of cool water floated gracefully into her mouth and slipped soothingly down her throat, hoarse and scratchy from all the screaming. She stopped struggling and turned her face towards the source of the water, opening her mouth eagerly. A second stream followed, and a third, and then she was filled and she turned over onto her side and went to sleep, energy drained, a contented smile about her face. It was as though she hadn't just destroyed their camp. The group dispersed, going back to the duties they had been observing before, Suki sending Toph to gather berries alone so that she could sit and guard Azula, should she wake and need anything.

Zuko was heading back to camp with two large canteens of water when Sokka, a dead rabbit-fox slung over his shoulder and a large bundle of firewood under his other arm, fell into step beside him.

"Y'know," he began, "we're going to need new tents. It's a shame Azula didn't burn the old ones before Mai went to market; she could have bought some new ones."

"She'd have had to carry them." Zuko replied. "She would already have had enough to carry."

"I know you asked her to buy a cure for madness." There was more than a hint of accusation in Sokka's voice. "That's some serious deflecting of responsibility."

"Mai was going to market!" snapped Zuko. "I only asked her for a favour!"

"There are no cures for madness!" shot back Sokka. "Anything you give Azula could make her seriously ill!"

"How can you be so sure?" demanded Zuko. "Your stupid Southern Water Tribe may be crude and basic, but that doesn't mean the rest of the world is too!"

"GAAAAH!" Sokka kicked a stone. "There's nothing wrong with our medicine - just ask Katara."

"I'm not arguing with Katara." Zuko replied levelly. His sudden calmness tipped Sokka over the edge.

"You...are...the most annoying...good-for-nothing...stupid...Fire Nation... Katara was right - you should have just gone home yourselves." He had swung the rabbit- fox from off his back and had been hitting Zuko over the head with it as he spoke. Now, Zuko put a hand up in protest at this treatment and the rabbit-fox burned to ashes.

"That...was...DINNER!" roared Sokka.

"Go and find another one, then!" snapped Zuko.

"NO - _you_ do it!" Sokka had completely lost it now. "You've never hunted anything before, you never do any chores around camp, and you never pull your own weight! I suppose that's what you get for having _royalty_ along for the ride!"

Zuko opened his mouth, his good eye narrowing into a slit. "Now you just look here, Sokka-"

"OK - break!" Suki appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and pushed the two combatants apart.

"Suki!" cried Sokka, and Zuko said:

"How's Azula?" He realised suddenly that he did feel truly concerned about his sister - or at least about what she would do to others.

"She's still asleep." Suki replied, sensing this. "When I heard you guys yelling at each other, I figured you needed watching more than she did."

"Pity Zuko couldn't do it." Sokka said. "She is _his_ sister."

"You don't watch Katara every minute of every day!" replied Zuko hotly.

"Katara isn't a blood-hungry maniac!" Sokka shrieked. His level of shrillness was quite surprising.

"OK, guys, when I said "break", I _meant_ BREAK!" Suki lost her temper, too, and she rounded on her boyfriend. "Honestly, Sokka - you behave like such a small child sometimes, I swear to the spirits, I do not know what I see in you." With that, she stormed off.

"Now look at what you did!" Sokka snapped at Zuko. "Are you happy now?" He stormed off, leaving Zuko glowering after him.

Suki went and sat back down by Azula. She watched her for a while, still blazing from her boyfriend's stupidity, and she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. _What an idiot._

But he was a good idiot in his own way, and one Suki adored. She felt herself calming down as she focused on Azula's breathing. She looked very peaceful, lying there with her hair fanning out over her face, a gentle, contented smile playing about her lips, no trace of a scheme or a plot; quite a different girl from the one who had struck her down and taken her to prison, the one who had turned up whenever her busy schedule allowed to torture her, both physically and mentally, to taunt her about her boyfriend's continual absence and her certainty that, as soon as he discovered her location, he would dash along to bust her out. Suki was an excellent combatist, but she was also sharp enough to know that it would need a plan - a clever one, too, one that involved a certain amount of subterfuge - and Suki was not only unable to do that alone, but she was also not possessed of the kind of brain that was good at that. Plans were Sokka's forte.

That thought made her smile. Everything came back to Sokka - just like the boomerang that they'd both searched for hours for after the final battle. She really would do anything for him, just to see that lovely, open smile light up his pleasant face. She wasn't entirely sure what had drawn her to the sexist, obnoxious idiot that he had been when she first met him, but whatever it was had showed her that they really did match each other very well. She was planning to hang on to this one.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw "this one" sit himself down a distance away, hunched over miserably. Oh, dear. What had Zuko said? It truly brought Suki down to see Sokka miserable, so she took a quick look at Azula, surmised that she would probably be sleeping for quite some time, and went over to join him.

"What's wrong, Sokka?"

He looked up at the sound of her voice, his blue eyes drooping with sadness, and shook his head. "I don't have a girlfriend any more,that's what." He sighed as though all the weight of the world were on his shoulders. "The prettiest, most capable, most kick-ass, kindest, sweetest, sexiest girl in the world doesn't want to be with me any more."

"What?" Suki couldn't see why he was so upset about a simple snap. True, it had been the first time she'd lost her temper with him, and it had been a low blow, but it hadn't brought the forest down upon itself, and she still thought that he was nicer than any of the other boys she had ever met - probably put together.

"You broke up with me, didn't you?"

Though she knew that it was about the worst thing that she could do, Suki started to giggle. "Oh, Sokka!" she sighed, once she had gained control of herself. "That wasn't a break-up. I just snapped at you, that's all. I'm sorry I said that I didn't know what I see in you. I do. You're such an idiot, but that's a good thing. You can always make me laugh, and you're so kind and so sweet to everyone - even if you do say stupid things sometimes. But you can also be clever as well: you're Plan Guy! I was just thinking about you getting us all out of the Boiling Rock. You were pretty kick-ass yourself then!" She smiled tenderly at him. "I love you, Sokka, and I hope we can be together until we die." She put an arm round his shoulders and, leaning over, kissed his cheek.

When she pulled away, she saw that the idiotic grin had returned to her boyfriend's face. "Seriously?" He turned her face to his and kissed her lips. Suki put her other arm around him and squeezed tightly.

When, at length, they broke apart, Suki leaned her head on his shoulder. "So that's alright, then."

* * *

At last, they had all packed up, loaded everything onto Appa, and taken off. Sokka and Zuko had mostly patched up their argument, although Sokka had been unable to suppress the triumphant grin when Mai had returned without a cure for madness. Things had mostly settled down between the team, and it was with a kind of peace that everybody lounged around in the saddle, chatting amicably about what they wanted to see and do now that they were without a time limit, and nothing particularly pressing to achieve.

That was until Azula got jittery.

They had known, of course, that Azula was dangerous - they still needed to get new tents before they settled down for the night. They didn't know exactly how dangerous she was - what she was above, and what she wasn't above. Therefore, no-one expected it when her shudders and whimpers turned into shrieks, which translated themselves into a lunge forward at Toph, both hands wrapped around the younger girl's neck.

Toph had had no idea that that was coming. The new saddle that they had purchased for Appa was made of wood and leather, laid with plenty of soft furs - which Aang had been none too happy about - and therefore, nothing she could see through. The furs muffled most of the sound, and so all she heard was a slight rustle that could have meant anything before she felt the intense pain of being forcibly strangled.

Several loud shrieks went up and everyone lunged forward to wrest Azula from the young girl. Toph was left massaging her throat as Zuko and Sokka kept a firm grip on Azula, feeling stunned and shocked and more than a little scared. The mood turned nasty very quickly. No-one knew what to do about Azula. The others would be able to dodge her attacks, but on Appa's saddle, where they intended to spend most of their time, Toph was completely defenceless. There was an air of indecisiveness - for the first time, it occurred to the group that they were not trained psychiatrists. They weren't even sure if Azula should be allowed to travel with them at all: after all, she was a stowaway.

"What should we do?" asked Ty Lee anxiously.

"Haven't you twigged that we're trying to work that out?" demanded Toph, still rubbing her neck. "You were her friend, you think something up!"

"We could drop her off at the nearest village and see if someone takes her in." Sokka suggested, disregarding the stunned looks and his sister's shocked "Sokka!".

"I've a feeling we should keep her with us." Zuko said.

"We could see if there are any asylums anywhere." Suki suggested. "That way, she can get professional help, and she'll be off our hands." She paused. "I don't know of any, though."

Zuko pursed his lips. Somehow, the thought of never seeing Azula again gave him quite a wrench. "I... I think... We should keep her with us." He frowned. Decision-making was not his forte. "We'll do what we can for her and then put her back in the asylum when we - Mai and me - get home."

Sokka shrugged. "Well, she's your sister. But remember the adoption plan. It's one of my better ones."

As Sokka spoke, his own sister tied Azula's wrists to the edge of Appa's saddle. "We're sorry, Azula. We'll do our best."

* * *

 **Well, decision-making isn't Zuko's forte, and chapter endings aren't mine. Another thing we have in common, though: these elements are both parts of our respective jobs, and so we must - and probably will - get better at them.**


End file.
